Apparatus to open or shut the doors of automobiles



May 3, 1938. J. msmMuR 2,115,445

APPARATUS TO OPEN 0R SHUT THE DOORS OF AUTOMOBILES Filed June 8, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1938 J. NISHIMURA 2,116,446

APPARATUS TO OPEN 0R SHUT THE DOORS OF AUTOMOBILES Filed June a, 1936 a sheets-sheet 2 fig I 3mm; J Niskim fiq May 3, 1938. J. NISHIMURA 5 3 APPARATUS To OPEN OR SHUT THE DQORS 0F AUTOMOBILES Filed June 8, 19:56 3 Sheets- Sheet 3 Sh w;

Patented May 3, 1938 UNITED STATES 'ro OPEN on snow 'rns noons 0F AUTOMOBILES APPARATUS Jin Nlshimura, Tokyo, Japan, assignor to Jidosha Koki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, Japan Application June 8, 1936, Serial No. 84,223 In Japan April 30, 1936 2 Claims.

This invention relates to actuating mechanisms for automobile or other doors, in which a vacuum operating pump having a switch valve to open or shut the door is arranged at a suitable position in the automobile body, the said pump and a locking piece provided in the door being connected by suitable motion transmitting mechanism, and the portion of the said mechanism corresponding to the hinged part of the door being constructed as a flexible member, and has for its object to effect the opening and closing of the doors in an easy manner and from a point at a. distance from the doors, such as the chauffeur's seat.

The drawings show one example of the apparatus to open or close the doors according to this invention; in which Fig. 1A is a side view thereof, Fig. 13 a sectional view along line I--I in Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3- is a side view of the vacuum operating pump partly in section.

Fig. 4 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 5 is a section of a buffer arranged in the said pump.

Fig- 6 is an end view of one form of switch valve adapted to be used for this invention, Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section. thereof, Figs. 8, 9, and 10 are cross sections of the switch valve on line 1-1 in Fig. 7. and show the relative positions in which each part is set in three different working conditions.

In'the drawings, i represents a rear portion of the side wall of the passenger compartment of the automobile, 2 a. door provided at the passengers entrance, 2' a window of the door, 3 a front portion of the said side wall. A hinged is provided to pivotally connect the said door to the rear portion of the side wall and includes a pivot 5. A vacuiun operating pump 6 is arranged horizontally in the space provided between the inner and outer plates constituting the rear portion of the side wall, while a switch. valve 1 is fitted on a suitable part in the chauffeurs compartment, for example, on the dashboard a control handle I is provided for the said valve. The valve 1 is connected through conduits 8 and 9 to both sides of the pump respectively,'and through a conduit iii to a vacuum producing portion of a carburetter for the automobile engine. Upon operating the valve 1 a vacuum is produced in the left or'the right hand side of the pump 6. whereby the piston II is caused to move towards the left or the right hand direction. Clearance spaces l2 are provided between the switch valve body and the corners of the valve box. The said clearance spaces allow the conduits 8 and 9 to communicate with the atmosphere through perforations 49, and 5| hereinafter illustrated with respect to Figs. 7 to 10.-

In opening the door 2, a locking piece 13 is released at the initial portion of the stroke of the pump 6, while the door is opened during the remaining portion of the said stroke.

In reducing this feature of the invention to, 10 practice the piston rod ll of the pump 6 is connected with a swivel rod l5 at its front end by means of a pivot I5. A slide link i6 is arranged to move horizontally in the door. A connecting piece I1 is secured on the side of the door to be hinged. The said connecting piece has a cylindrical member l'8 extending into the door wall and receives the rear end portion-of the slide link 16. The front end portion of a cylindrical member i9 is pivotally jointed with 20 a rear cylindrical member IB' extending rearwardly from the connecting piece by means of a pin 20. and the front portion of the swivel rod i5 is slidably inserted in the rear portion of the cylindrical member I9. A flexible member 2| 25 such as a spring is arranged between the front end of the swivel rod I5 and the rear end of the slide link in the space enclosed by the cylindrical member IS, the connecting piece I! and the cylindrical members l8, l8. Slits 22 (Figs. 3 and 4) are provided along the axis of the cylindrical member l9 and are adapted to receive projections 23 secured at the front end of the swivel rod l6.

Two guide rods 24 are secured at the front end of the cylinder of the pump 6 and arranged parallel to the piston rod H. A disc-like member 25 having a channel section is secured at the free ends of the said guide rods 24. The said member 25 and the cylinder of the pump 6 are firmlyheld by the inner and outer plates of the rear portion l of the side wall 3 by supporting members 26, 21 and 21'.

A buffer 28 is fitted at the front end of the pump and its cylindrical casing 29 has an inner ring shaped flange in the front part thereof. A conically wound spring 3| is fastened at its large end to the said flange and at its small end to the central portion of a fine cylindrical body 32-inserted deeply into the said spring 3!. The cylindrical body 82 has a bottom plate at its rear end. The rear end of a finespring 34 inserted into the cylindrical body is fastened at the bottom plate 33, while its front end is secured to a valve stem "'0! a valve 35. The

I butler 2I composed of the aforesaid members is to be provided according to requirement, thus, when it is required to provide such a buifer, the conduit I communicating with the switch valve I is connected at the front end of the cylindrical casing 29, and an edge II of the connected portion is utilized as a valve seat for the valve.

II. The valve 35 has a fine groove I! on its surface, so that the pump 6 and conduit I are always in communication with the said fine grooves, even when the valve is seated.

Upon suitable actuation of the switch valve hereinafter described and provided on the dash board of the vehicle the space provided at the right hand side of the piston is connected to the vacuum portion, and the piston moves towards the right hand direction with the result that at the beginning of the movement, the slide link II is moved towards the right hand direction through the swivel rod l5 and flexible member 2! and through a lever II connected with the said link and horizontal member II the locking piece II is returned to impinge on a stop 44 against the action of a spring 43, whereby the door is held partially open. In this instance, the projections 23 secured at the front end of the swivel rod II reach the front end of the slit 2!. On

continuing the right hand movement of the piston II, the connecting piece I! secured at the rear side of the door is pressed through the swivel rod I I and the cylindrical member ID, so that the door is opened outwardly around the pivot 5, as shown in Fig. 2. In this case, as the flexible member 2| extends into the space provided between the rear edge of the door and the front edge of the rear portion of the side wall, there is no difliculty in opening the door though the said transmitting mechanism may be distorted. On the other hand, when the switch valve is actuated in the opposite direction, the left hand side oi the piston and vacuum portion are connected, and the air in the opposite side leaks through the clearance l2, so that the piston moves towards the left hand direction to shut the door, and at last, by the inertia of the door shutting motion, the locking piece is locked into the key hole provided in the side wall.

- When the aforesaid buffer is provided, it prevents the sudden creation of a vacuum in the interior oi the pump so that the door will be silently controlled. It is not however necessary to provide the said buffer.

Oneexample of the switch valve to be used in this invention is shown in Figs. 6 to 10. The switch valve includes a valve box II, while a com- 'municating body II is inserted firmly into 'one -is connected with the conduit I to establish communication' between. the switch valve I and pump I, the nipple I with, the conduit I having the same communication as the conduit I, and the nipple II with the conduit II to connect the valve 1 to the vacuum producing part in the automobile. A plug 41 is inserted from the other end of the valve box 4|. This plug has a transverse hole II and three longitudinal grooves II, II, and Ii arranged at the nuadrant points or a circle respectively as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The control handle I as before mentioned is secured at the outside end of the plug stem I2. when the plug I1 is set in the position shown in Fig; 8, the conduit I is kept in vacuum, and the conduit I communicates through the groove II to the atmosphere. whereby the piston ll of the pumpImay move towards the right hand direction. On the contrary, when the cook 41 is set in the position shown in Fig. 9, the conduit I is kept in vacuum. and the conduit I communicates through the groove 50 to the atmosphere, so that the piston I I of the pump I is moved towards the left hand direction. Whereas, when the plug I! is'set in the position as shown in Fig. 10, the conduits I and I are both cut of! from the vacuum portion and communicate to the atmosphere, whereby there will be no pressure difference between both sides of the piston ll. of the pump I. In this latter case in which the piston II is not affected by vacuum. it is possible to control the door I manually. For this purpose, a slide member II secured at the locking piece II has a projection 40' at its outside, a lever II having a vertical groove 54 is secured at the swivel shaft 52 extending through the inner plate I and outer plate I",

' 1. Door and latch control mechanism for motor vehicles comprising a cylinder, a piston adapted to reciprocate within said cylinder, a rod connected to said piston and projecting through one end of said cylinder, a slide member pivotally connected at one end to said connecting rod, a sleeve surrounding said slide member and connected to a door of thevehicle, lugs on said connecting rod, said sleeve having longitudinal slits intermediate its ends adapted to receive the lugs on said connecting rod, a slide rod connected at one end to the door latch and having its free end arranged in alignment with and adjacent to the free end of the connecting rod, said slide rod being adapted to be actuated by said connecting rod in one direction, and means for subjecting said piston ultimately on opposite sides thereof to pressure and suction for actuating said connecting rod, whereby the initial movement of said rod will unlatch the door and continued movement of said rod in the same directionwill swing the door to open position.

2. Door and latch control mechanism for motor vehicles comprising a cylinder, a piston adapted to reciprocate within said cylinder, a rod connected to said piston and projecting through one end of said cylinder, a slide member pivot'ally connected at one end to said connecting, rod, a sleeve surrounding said slide member and connected to a door of the vehicle, lugs on said connecting rod, said sleeve having longitudinal slits intermediate its ends adapted to receive the lugs on said connecting rod, a slide rod connected at one end to the door latch and having its free end arranged in alignment with and adjacent to the free end of the.connecting rod, said slide rod being adapted to be actuated by said connecting rod in one directiomvalve controlled means communieating with said cylinder on opposite sides of said piston and valve controlled mechanism for placing said cylinder into communication with atmosphere and suction alternately and on opposite sides oi said piston for actuating said rod, whereby movement of said rod in one direction will unlatch the door and swing the latter into opposite direction willclose said door.

smmsnnmaa. 

